Dynamic Bases

[ANaKeR]

In short, the idea is to have a collection of deployable units that have different support roles and can be connected together and built upon to eventually create a fully functional base.

Consider the following hypothetical situation:

A player, with the appropriate support certification, spawns a Vehicle Support Unit (looks similar to a heavy duty transport truck) that is slow moving and can be deployed anywhere on land. The owner of the unit decides to deploy it in a relatively safe area out of sight from enemies as it cannot cloak like an AMS and will sustain damage if fired upon. In its deployed state, this vehicle support unit has basic vehicle support features such as vehicle repair and resupply, small ground vehicle spawn, etc. Every time a player uses the outpost for vehicle support (like use of the repair terminal), ‘building points’ are earned by the owner of the unit which he or she can use to ‘purchase’ additions like a medium vehicle spawn terminal and quicker repair station.

A second player, with the appropriate support certification, spawns a Soldier Support Unit similar to above, but having the purpose of fast spawning and soldier resupply from its equipment terminals. It initially can only spawn soldiers and is initially slower at spawning. Use of it, again, awards ‘building points’ to the owner, which can be used to improve it.

The second player has the choice of connecting their soldier support unit onto the existing vehicle support unit which allows the player to receive a certain percentage of additional building points from the first player and vice versa (neither of them losing any points). This gives players the incentive to group them together as opposed to deploying them independently.

In addition to those two units, there would be several other support variations that are connectable:

• Soldier Health & Armour Unit – contains healing and repair stations as well as personal lockers
• Certification Unit – contains certification terminals (and implant terminals if they exist)
• Defence Unit - contains manned and unmanned turrets for anti soldier and anti (air)vehicle defence as well as pillbox holes for soldiers to fire through
• Offense Unit – contains a large rail gun (or missiles) for shooting at distant targets
• Radar Unit – contains a radar dish for detecting incoming enemy troops and sounds alarms depending on the number of them in the sphere of influence

...and the list goes on

Depending on how the game is designed, there could be other units such as a Command Uplink Unit, Communication Unit, Dropship Landing Pad Unit, etc. Since Planetside is a futuristic game, the units wouldn’t look like flimsy tent-like structures, but rather solid fortifications that when connected together, looks like a base.

Addressing some of the concerns:

How many units can be connected together? Is there a finite number or is it infinite?
It could be pretty much infinite given that enough users are taking advantage of the unit and perhaps there would be an overall ‘activity rating’ (how many users are spawning, using terminals, etc) that determines if further units can be attached. If the owner of one of the units is not adequately maintaining a support unit (say a Soldier Health & Armour Unit) of high demand, then another ‘slot’ opens up for a player to add a support unit of the same type.

What if the owner abandons the deployed unit that he or she created?
After a certain amount of time without use or without modifications by the owner, the ownership changes to neutral and any other user with the appropriate certification can take ownership of it. Units that are abandoned and see no activity will need to be replenished with a power source (Nanites?) or they will deconstruct after a certain amount of time. The power source could also be used in conjunction with the building points to help the base develop faster.

What happens when the unit/base is overtaken by enemies?
It can either be destroyed or hacked and transferred in ownership. If hacked, the units become neutral (for the hacking faction) and any user with the appropriate support certification can claim ownership of a unit and build on it as he or she sees fit.